Average Josephine: Readers weigh in on mannequin column

Dear Average Josephine: Thank you for standing up for all of us that are not size 12 and smaller. I love your column!

I am 5 foot 10 and a size 22. I weigh 250, tall and proud.

I think the fashion industries are changing, but not fast enough. There are a lot of people like me — including men — that would buy affordable clothing made just for our body styles, and more (people) in the fashion industries should put their money where their mouths are. Thank you so much for your advice!— Mrs. R.

Dear Mrs. R.: Thank you for your email. Average Josephine believes all women should be able to find nice clothes that fit without being judged.

Dear Average Josephine: In your column published April 2, you refer to women wearing a size four as being, in some unspecified way, not “real.” I wear a size four, as does one of my daughters. My other daughter wears a size two. I assure you that I exist, work, sleep, take care of myself and my family, and that I am, indeed, real. My daughters also are real, as are my sisters, and several of my friends who also wear size four or smaller clothing.

We are healthy and all eat three meals a day, plus snacks, and most of us are darn good cooks too, in case you were wondering if we are a tribe of anorexics.

I would never question the reality of, or otherwise insult, people with bodies of a size different from my body. I encourage you to extend the same courtesy and respect to all your readers.— L.C.

Dear L.C.: Average Josephine went back and read the column you are referring to and she did not say size-four women were not real. She said most mannequins are made in size four and most real women (meaning not mannequins) wear a size 12 and larger.

This is a true statistic in America. She also said the outcry against having larger mannequins in stores because they will encourage people to become obese was just silly.

She wrote, “If you have mannequins in your store, they will not make people lose or gain weight.”

Average Josephine gets emails daily from women with all different kind of clothing issues — whether they can’t find something big enough, small enough, long enough or short enough. The point is, nobody wants to be judged by something as arbitrary as their size.

That column only referred to size-four mannequins, not size-four women. Average Josephine feels confident in saying that women don’t want to be considered mannequins.

Dear Average Josephine: Your recent article about preparing for the spring wardrobe mentioned that wearing shorts in freezing weather looks ridiculous. My first thought is how much more ridiculous is wearing a short skirt? It doesn’t get much colder in windy, freezing weather than donning a short skirt. I know because I have tried it.— Michigan Gal

Dear M.G.: Hopefully, the weather will be warm enough soon that women can wear either shorts or skirts without freezing.